Category Archives: Film

Second Annual Ralphies – First Annual Codex Edition (Best of 2005)

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Welcome to the Second Annual Ralphies — First Annual Codex Edition. Following the example of Ed Cook, a number of bloggers, including Rick Brannan, Joe Cathey, and Loren Rosson, and “Targuman” (a new blog I found through Ed’s), have been compiling their favorite books and films of 2005.

What follows is my own list. While I have tried to honour Ed’s template, I find it difficult to narrow lists like these down to one top pick, so I have includes some runner-ups.

Best NONFICTION BOOK of the year: This is a tough one since I have read quite a few non-fiction books! For books published in 2005, here are my selections. My top choice is Vincent Miller, Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture (Continuum, 2004; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com). This work is not in my primary field of research and that is one reason why it would be my top choice since many of the ideas within it were so new to me. I read it in preparation for my popular culture course and found it to be a compelling and convicting expose of the commodification of religion.

A very close runner up from within in one of my primary areas of research is Ulrich Dahmen, Psalmen- und Psalter-Rezeption im Fruehjudentum: Rekonstrucktion, Textbestand, Sturktur und Pragmatik der Psalmen Rolle 11QPsa aus Qumran (Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 49; Leiden: Brill, 2003; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com). This work is an impressive examination of the so-called Qumran Psalms scroll taking into consideration both literary and textual characteristics of the scroll. I highly recommend it!

Best FICTION BOOK of the year: I typically only read fiction when on holidays. Probably the best fiction work I read this year (but was published a while ago) is Susan Howatch, Scandalous Risks (Fawcett, 1991; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com). This is the fourth of Howatch’s Church of England series. I enjoy the intellegent theological discussions in Howatch’s books, among other things.

Runner-ups would include J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Scholastic, 2005; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com). I enjoy the Harry Potter books, though I am always left with a small sense of dissatisfaction after reading them — I’m not sure what it is, though I wonder if it is the fact that they are based on the school year and therefore like a TV show, you know they will be wrapping up loose ends as the school year nears its end. I also reread Chaim Potok, In the Beginning (Ballantine, 1997; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com). I love all of Potok’s books (The Chosen, The Promise, My Name is Asher Lev, Davita’s Harp, etc.), but this one I especially appreciate because it narrates the story of David Lurie, a brilliant young Jewish boy who stuns his family and friends by laying aside his Orthodox upbringing and becoming a secular biblical scholar. I love the final exchange between David and his Rebbe (p. 435):

  • Rebbe: “… Are you telling me you will not be an observer of the commandments?”
  • David: “I am not telling the Rebbe that.”
  • Rebbe: “What are you telling me?”
  • David: “I will go wherever the truth leads me. It is secular scholarship, Rebbe; it is not the scholarship of tradition. In secular scholarship there are no boundaries and no permanently fixed views.”
  • Rebbe: “Lurie, if the Torah cannont go out into your world of scholarship and return stronger, then we are all fools and charlatans. I have faith in the Torah. I am not afraid of truth.”

Brilliant!

Best MOVIE of the year: This is a tough one for me — especially since I taught a religion and popular culture class and consequently watched a few films over the course of the year! In terms of movies released in 2005, my vote for best movie of 2005 would be Hotel Rwanda (Terry George, 2004; IMDB; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com). While this film technically came out in 2004, I didn’t watch it until it was released on DVD in 2005. I found this to be a moving/disturbing film about the genocidal atrocities in Rwanda and how the colonial powers contributed to the problems. It is an excellent case study in situational ethics (what would you do if you were in that situation?). It should be seen in tandem with the Canadian documentary based on the autobiography of Romeo Dallaire, Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire (Peter Raymont, 2004; IMDB; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com).

Honorable mention goes to Batman Begins (Christopher Nolan, 2005; IMDB; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com) for a movie that ponders the notion of redemptive violence; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Mike Newell, 2005; IMDB) for a good film adaptation; Crash (Paul Haggis, 2005; IMDB; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com for a captivating movie about the ubiquitious nature of racism; Palindromes (Todd Solondz, 2004; IMDB; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com for a provcative use of eight different actors (playing the same character) in a thought-provoking examination of the moral complexities of abortion.

Finally, I have to give special mention to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Andrew Adamson, 2005; IMDB). I liked the film, though in order to really appreciate it I will have to see it again since I went with my kids and ended up spending most of my time answering questions from my four-and-a-half year old son! (Q; What is that? A: That’s a faun. Q: Why? A: Uh, because it is. Q: Why? A: Because C.S. Lewis drew upon classical mythology in his writings. Q: Is the faun a bad guy? A: Well, not really, he does bad stuff but then turns good. Q: So he’s a good guy? A: Yes. etc. ad naseum!)

Best CD of the year: This is a no-brainer! U2’s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is the best CD of the year (Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com). I think that with this CD, U2 has returned to their roots (not that I didn’t like all of their music in between!). Sad to say that was the only CD that I purchased in 2005. I actually had my CD collection stolen from my office early in the year and I have been replacing what I lost by downloading them as mp3s since I tend to listen to music only when at my computer (and I can always burn a CD if I want one).

Song of the year: “Yahweh” from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. This is a catchy and intriguing song. It’s a prayer for Yahweh to intervene, to transform the singer: “Take this shirt / Polyester white trash made in nowhere / take this shirt / and make it clean, clean. Take this soul / Stranded in some skin and bones / Take this soul / and make it sing…. Take this heart / And make it break.” But it’s also a lament, questioning why God is not acting: “Yahweh, tell me now / Why the dark before the dawn?” At any rate, I am impressed that U2 included a song called “Yahweh” on their CD.

A close runner up would be “Crumbs from your table.” When I first heard this song I loved it. But then I watched the DVD that came with the CD and listened to Larry Mullen note how he was so drunk when they wrote that song that he doesn’t even remember writing it! Talk about a downer! But then I read a great blog entry on this song from Spera In Deo where he relays an interview with Bono about the song that redeems the song in my eyes. Here is an excerpt:

About the Crumbs song, he [Bono] told the story of the Irish nun, Sister Ann, who’s story broke his heart. She lives and works near a sewer and brings in people who live in horrific conditions. When he visited her, he saw people who were sleeping “three to a bed.” I had previously thought the song was about Bush’s promised–then rescinded–offer of $15b in Africa aid. But it turns out it is really (also?) about this nun and how some people in the world await crumbs to fall from the feast table of American Christianity (You speak of signs and wonders / But I need something other / I would believe if I was able / But I’m waiting on the crumbs from your table).

Once again, brilliant! Well, that’s all she wrote, so I’ll see you at next year’s Ralphies!


Palindromes and Abortion

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Last night my film distributor/critic friend and I watched Todd Solondz‘s film Palindromes (2004). This film provides a biting social commentary on the abortion debate in the U.S. One of the blurbs on the DVD case describes the film as “corrosively funny.” It definitely is corrosive and at times it’s funny; my primary thought while watching the film was one of surprise — surprise at the shots Solondz took at both sides of the abortion debate (among other things). This film is not subtle, many scenes hit you like a two-by-four.

This film tells the story of a young woman named Aviva (note the palindrome), who grows up in a middle-class Jewish home with nice liberal parents (played well by Ellen Barkin and Richard Masur). Aviva wants nothing from life but a baby — a boyfriend or husband is not necessary. This desire leads her to her first sexual experience as a thirteen-year-old. She gets pregnant but then has an abortion at the behest of her parents (she has a hysterectomy due to complications with the abortion, though she is never told that she can’t have children). Aviva then runs away, still determined to get pregnant one way or another. Instead, she has a surreal journey from the suburbs of New Jersey, through Ohio to the plains of Kansas and back. To let you know what happens on her journey would reveal too much of the plot — suffice it to say that things come full circle (again a palindrome) though you are not sure if anything has really changed.

The film is clever (e.g., the palindrome structure, as well as the fact that Aviva’s character is played by a number of different actresses), philosophical, and will force you to reflect on your view about abortion. It may offend some on both sides of the debate, though as piece of social criticism it is worth viewing (it was released in the US without a rating, while the Canadian Home Video Rating is 14A). The film had a very limited screening, but the DVD will be released this fall.

Resources: Official website | TH!NKFilm (Canadian distributor) | Wellspring Media (U.S. distributor) | IMDb

Update to My Old Testament on Film Pages

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OT on FilmI have made some up-dates to my Old Testament on Film pages. Most of the up-dates are based on an excellent, albeit almost impossible to purchase, book:

  • Richard H. Campbell and Michael R. Pitts. The Bible on Film: A Checklist, 1897-1980. Scarecrow Press, 1981.

This is an excellent resource which I wish I knew about when I was compiling my database of films! (Though I had many which they did not include.)

At any rate, I believe my list is comprehensive — or at least as comprehensive as I can get!

Film and Social Awareness (Two Films about Rwanda and Scared Sacred)

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I have personally found film to be an effective medium to portray truthfully the horrors of war, violence, intolerance, and raise the audience’s awareness of various social justice issues. Perhaps more than written news reports, film can be used to evoke a meaningful response on the part of its audience. Note that I am not thinking of those voyeuristic movies that portray violence and/or war in a gratuitous manner or only to arouse. There have been many films that have had a significant impact on the way I perceived the world. Off the top of my head I think of righteous indignation I felt while watching Daniel Day Lewis in In the Name of the Father (1993), or the anger I felt watching Mississippi Burning (1988) or the series of anti-apartheid films of the late 1980s and early 90s such as A Dry White Season (1989) and Cry Freedom (1987). These films caused me to become more aware of the social problems in our world and instilled in me a desire to stay informed and be involved. This has typically taken the form of supporting human rights organizations like Amnesty International and world relief organizations like World Vision, as well as trying to instill in my students an awareness of social justice issues.

More recently, I watched two disturbing films on the genocide that occurred in Rwanda over a period of one-hundred days in 1994: Hotel Rwanda (2004) and the documentary on the same subject Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire (2004). While I would highly recommend both of these films, I found them difficult to watch. The news footage of the genocide in Shake hands with the Devil is disturbing, as is their dramatic recreation in Hotel Rwanda. I have real difficultly comprehending how humans can treat each other with such brutality. Also disturbing (and is especially highlighted in Shake hands with the Devil) is how the actions and/or inaction of different nations — especially the old colonial powers — helped create the horrible situation in Rwanda. Rwanda is one occasion when I wished the international community would have intervened rather than sitting on their collective hands!

Hotel Rwanda: Don Cheadle as Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who would go on to save hundreds of lives during the Rwanda genocide in 1994. Nick Nolte plays Canadian Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire.

Shake Hands with the Devil: Canadian Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire at the Bisesero National Resistance Memorial, Rwanda

Just last Sunday I went to NFB Film Club screening of a new documentary called Scared Sacred. This documentary chronicled the director’s five-year pilgrimage (of sorts) to the world’s “ground zeros” to explore how people found hope admist the darkest moments of human history. Velcrow Ripper (yes, that’s his real name) travels to the toxic wasteland of Bhopal, India; the minefields of Cambodia; war-torn Afghanistan; post-9/11 New York; Bosnia; Hiroshima; Israel and Palestine, among other places. While the film itself has some wonderful cinematography and is quite moving, it has a decidedly Eastern religious bias and is superficial at times. I also objected to some of the ways people in the film tried to justify tragedy by appealing to some higher purpose. That being said, it is a film worth watching if it screens in your neighbourhood.

Bravo for Batman Begins

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I went to see Batman Begins last night and was suitably impressed, to say the least. The look of the film was stunning and reminded me a bit of Blade Runner. The special effects were awesome but not overwhelming. The cast — led by Christian Bale (of American Psycho infamy) as Bruce Wayne/Batman and including other fine actors such as Michael Caine (Alfred), Liam Neeson (Henri Ducard), Katie Holmes (Rachel Dawes), Gary Oldman (James Gordon), Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox), and Rutger Hauer (Richard Earle) — was magnificent. But the best part of the film was the actual script. I know it’s hard to believe that an action film would have a great script, but it does. I could say more, but suffice it to say that Batman Begins is everything that I hoped Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith would be. Perhaps Christopher Nolan (director and co-screenwriter) and David S. Goyer (co-screenwriter) should write a book on Character Development and Dialog for Dummies and give George Lucas a complementary autographed copy.

Speaking of Star Wars, Jeffrey Overstreet has a hilarious dialog between Darth Vader and Batman on his Looking Closer Webpage (“Hey there, Dark Lord!” “Greetings, Dark Knight! Nice cape.” “You too! Capes are cool, no matter what the Incredibles tell you.”), as well as a very insightful review. Peter Chattaway also has some insightful comments on his FilmChat blog, and Ken Ristau’s musings on anduril.ca are also worth a look.

A Jewish Perspective on Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ

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Mark Goodacre notes on his NT Weblog a recent article on Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (2004) that examines the response to the film from a Jewish perspective. The article, “The Passion by Mel Gibson: Enthusiastic Response in the Catholic World, Restrained Criticism by the Jews,” by Sergio I. Minerbi appears in the online journal Jewish Political Studies Review 17:1-2 (Spring 2005).

The article provides a much needed Jewish perspective on The Passion, highlighting the uncritical way that Christians (including evangelicals but especially the Catholic Church, according to Minerbi) embraced the film and the lack of significant opposition from Jews.

I tried to have a variety of perspectives represented in the public lecture I organized on the film last year (14 April 2004) entitled, “Mel’s Passion: An Analysis of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ from Evangelical, Catholic, and Jewish Perspectives.” Rabbi David Kunin of Beth Shalom Synagogue, Edmonton, presented a Jewish perspective and Rev. David Norman, O.F.M., Professor of Systematic Theology at Newman Theological College, Edmonton, presented a catholic perspective, while yours truly gave an “evangelical” assessment. The three lectures (in MP3 format) are available for free download from the Public Lectures section of my website.

Queen Esther on the Big Screen Yet Again!

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Peter Chattaway has a note on his blog about an upcoming film based on the biblical book of Esther: One Night With the King, starring Peter O’Toole and Omar Sharif (due out later this year). Chattaway further notes a few other movies made about the story of Esther.

According to my count there have been a total of nine films based on the book of Esther. Besides the 1916 silent film directed by Maurice Elvey, the French produced three silent films inspired by the biblical character: Gaumont studios produced two films in 1910: Esther and Mordecai directed by Louis Feuillade and The Marriage of Esther, while C.G.P.C. made another movie called Esther directed by Henri Andréani. In addition, the Dutch director-actor Theo Frankel directed Esther: A Biblical Episode in 1911.

Once we are out of the silent era, there are three other films inspired by Esther (all of which Chattaway mentioned): Mario Bava and Raoul Walsh’s Esther and the King (1960); Amos Gitai’s Esther (1986); and Raffaele Mertes’ Esther (1999).

As a biblical scholar I found Esther and the King quite interesting — especially how they modified the king’s reason for getting rid of Queen Vashti. In the film they have Vashti cheating on the king and actually showing up at the banquet and performing a striptease (see picture of Daniela Rocca as Vashti above right), while in the biblical account she is dumped because she refused to come at the king’s command (Esther 1:10-12). What is perhaps ironic, is that some scholars (such as Michael Fox in his excellent book, Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther (Eerdmans, 2001; Buy from Amazon.ca | Buy from Amazon.com) suggest that when the king asks her to come before the crowd “wearing the royal crown”, it is implied that she was to come wearing only the crown, i.e., naked. So the striptease in the movie may not be too far off the mark, after all! At any rate, the movie itself isn’t that bad — and it stars Joan Collins as Esther (see picture, above left).

Last and not least, a recent “film” on Esther that I should mention is the VeggieTales production, Esther, The Girl Who Became Queen, that came out in 2000 (and I have watched many times since with my kids!)

For a fairly complete listing of films based on the Hebrew Bible, see my The Old Testament on Film page.

New Section on the Old Testament on Film Uploaded

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I have uploaded a new section on The Old Testament on Film to my site (This is the first installment of pages for my Religion & Popular Culture section).

In these pages I have listed over 110 films based on the Hebrew Bible in three separate categories according to their production eras, and within each era films are listed by their release date and director. While I do not think that I have been exhaustive, I am pretty confident that I have been fairly comprehensive. I have also provided a bit of an introduction to each era, as well as links to VHS and DVD editions available on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.

In creating this list I have been impressed by the sheer number of movies inspired by the Old Testament. While I knew of and have seen most of the “biblical epics” from the 1950s and 60s, I never realized how many silent films were based on the Old Testament — and I certainly didn’t realize how risque many of them were!

As a biblical scholar I have always been fascinated how the screenwriters and directors adapted the biblical narratives and solved some of the critical problems in the biblical text. Many of these films make fascinating hermeneutical studies in and of themselves. It has been a real treat watching some of them for the first time.

Happy viewing!